Partner
25+ years of experience. Over $1 billion in cases settled.
"When we founded Belluck & Fox, we set out to be a different kind of law firm. I'm proud that we're known as a force to be reckoned with for our clients, because we care so deeply about getting them justice."
National reputation for excellence in mesothelioma and serious injury litigation.
Joseph W. Belluck is co-author of 100 Questions & Answers About Mesothelioma and a founding partner of Belluck & Fox, LLP. He is widely recognized for his outstanding representation of clients, high ethical standards, and public service.
Joe has a national reputation for excellence in mesothelioma, truck accidents and other serious injury litigation. He is a dedicated, compassionate attorney who has spent his entire life and legal career advocating for injured consumers and workers.
He has settled over $1 billion of asbestos and personal injury lawsuits. For these reasons, he is asked to speak at conferences around the United States on personal injury litigation.
Prior to founding Belluck & Fox in 2002, Joe represented the State of New York in its tobacco litigation. He was responsible for forcing the tobacco industry to stop sponsoring fake scientific research and to take down their tobacco billboards in New York State. He started representing asbestos victims across the United States in 1999.
He previously served as a judicial law clerk at the Texas Supreme Court and as a staff attorney for the consumer group Public Citizen in Washington, D.C.
In 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attack, Joe spent six months at a volunteer legal organization known as Trial Lawyers Care. There he provided free representation to the families of people killed at the World Trade Center.
Joe is a dedicated public servant. In 2008, he was appointed to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which investigates allegations of misconduct, and disciplines all state and local judges in New York. He was elected Chair of the Commission in 2017.
He was appointed as a trustee of The State University of New York (SUNY) in 2010. The SUNY Board of Trustees oversees the entire public university system in New York which is comprised of 64 campuses. He also chairs the Charter School Committee at SUNY.
In 2017, Joe was appointed to the advisory committee of the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Center for Law and Policy Solutions. He previously served as a member of New York’s Medicaid Redesign Team and advised the State of New York on cannabis legalization.
Joe is also very philanthropic. He is Chair of the Board of Precious Dreams, a national organization that provides comfort items to foster and homeless youth; and serves on the Board of the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, an artist colony in New York’s Hudson Valley. He previously served on the board of Children’s Rights, a national advocacy group working to reform failing child welfare systems and protect foster children.
PRACTICE AREAS
Mesothelioma and Asbestos
Consumer Fraud and Defective Products
Personal Injury
Workplace Injuries
EDUCATION
SUNY – Buffalo School of Law, Magna Cum Laude, 1994
SUNY – Binghamton, B.A. in Sociology, 1989
ADMISSIONS
New York
Colorado
Massachusetts
Vermont
Washington
APPOINTMENTS
SUNY Board of Trustees, Member (2010 – Present)
SUNY Charter Schools Institute, Chair (2012 – Present)
New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Chair (2008 – Present)
Rockefeller Institute of Government Center for Law and Policy Solutions, Advisory Council (2017 – Present)
New York State Bar Association Task Force on Autonomous Cars, Member (2019 – Present)
SUNY Buffalo School of Law, Adjunct Lecturer of Law (1998, 2018)
New York State Trial Lawyers Association LawPac, Trustee (2010 – Present)
Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, Member (2010 – Present)
New York Medicaid Redesign Team, Member (2011 – 2013)
New York State Trial Lawyers Association Board of Directors, Member (2008 – 2012)
SUNY Buffalo School of Law Dean’s Advisory Council, Member (2008 – 2010)
SUNY Binghamton Harpur Law Council, Member (2008 – 2010)
HONORS
AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating possible for legal ability and ethical standards (2007 – Present)
New York SuperLawyers (2007 – Present)
New York Best Lawyers (2007 – Present)
U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Firms (2010 – Present)
Co-Chair of Mealey/HB Litigation’s National Asbestos
Litigation Superconferences (2007, 2009, 2010)
Speaker at Perrin National Asbestos Conferences and ACI National Asbestos Conference (2010 – Present)
Speaker at conferences on sexual abuse, travel injuries, cannabis
regulation, and other important topics.
